Lancaster daily intelligencer. [volume] (Lancaster, Pa.) 1864-1928, 1887-06-18
harscssr Of every individual member Of The


present time no reasier of the newspapers
viii for one moment deny. What arc all the
wild schemes and theories, and wilder half
formed, foggy, notions, that seem 10 pervade
the very air, about land-ow uership, the rela.
tion of labor and capital, the rights and
duties Of corporations, but the expressions
and proofs OF the most dense and dangerous
Of all government and all social order, and
moso especially ot Q government and social
organization such ~ oursY Or 70 come
nearer home what is the political corruption,
ot " hich We have had such recent aud dis.
graceful proof in our own city and county,
the outrageous election frauds, what are they
but y painful proof OF the utter lAck Of realizs-
tion and appreciation among us Of the iuuSt
American citizenship? Surely there is
crying need right here among US Of higher,
purer, truer patriotism Of instruction In the
principles Of liberty and social and political
right; Of very decided oniug up OF the
moral sense and social aud political con.
science in our community.
Again l submit that no amount of gun.
powder, parades, and beer will ever lift us
out Of our Decentralization, or stay the ten.
dency downward to still deeper deprAvity.
Besides, they are out Of place IN country
like ours Let us leave them, then, to those
European nations that are sui largely in the
military stage of DEVELOPMENT, and depend
tor their safety and strength uron the mar.
tiAl spirit OF their citizens We profess to
have outgrown n that stage, and to have resched
the next higher, the purely industrial whose
strength and normal condition is peaceful Co
operation and the unlimited exercise Of the
peaceful arts and Industries
don't mean, of course, that we ought to
have no fireworks, bands, parsdss ut all.
Not by any means We are not nearly reauy
for that yet. What l want IL q celebration
| that does not make them the sole nor even
the main feature. Let us have them, but
| don't let them be the whole celebration.
Give them their proper place in 1t, Hs the
| festive accomlaniments OF the other more ap
| propriate, profitable and worthier features
| These latter instead OF having martial char
| acter, should combine the social and intel.
| lectual elements, should be socially enIoya-
| be, intellectually Instructive, and morally
edfying and inspiring All which could
| easily be done aud once tried, few would be
inclined TO revert TO the old methods
say 1t can Toe done, because l know of AT
| least one place where 1t has been done mos,
successfully for number OF consecutive
| years; that is Woodstock In Connecticut
| And am sure the inhabitants OF that little
| town are not so much more Intelligent and
| refined than the citizens OF Lancaster, a. u
make impossible to the latter what IL possible
| to the former.
The Woodstock celebration Is my ideal c
| what such an occasion should be. Through
the public spirited generosity of one Of III
wealthy citizens, . most appropriate place Is
provided in the beautiful private park called
Roseland. To this the whole township is in
vited every Fourth Of July, and thousands
| from all the vicinity around avail them.
| which they enjoy under The old trees there
| in gen une picnic style Besides these there
are always several hundred guests from
| abroad, among them most of the leading lit
ersry and political notablities OF New Eng
| land, for 1t has come to be regarded . high
| honor to be an invited guest. For these re-
| freshments are provided in the park, or on
the lawn before his house, by the owner o
| the grounds There 10 music there, o.
| course, all day long. But the great attraction
| been provided for the occasion. The speak erl
are nearly always men Of national reputation
| who come thoroughly prepared TO discus
| questions OF national interest and import
| Last year some OF the subjects were Tn
Labor Problem, Our Railroads, and others
while the poem was, II remember right, b.,
Mrs julia Ward Howe, though It was rea,
by Prof. Richardson. In the evening be
tween the two addresses and afterwards
there was a very tine display Of fire. work
| on the little lake that is In The park, Will
| the park itself was brilliantly illuminated b.,
chinese lanterns, trsnspsrencle~, and othe
devices The poems and addresses are al
ways published in fun the week after. in tn
| New York independent, and ars OF q charsc
| ter such ~ cannot fail to he highly bench
| cial to the thousands who listen to them, an,
talk about them at their homes and to tn
tens OF thousands who read them after publ
| cation.
Now why should not Lancaster have . eel
ebration something on that order? What i
to prevent it? Haven't we enough wealth,
men in our city and county who are patriots
| enough To Ssa that tha money nsa1iAd xnul,